Mel B is being sued by her ex-nanny for $232,000 in legal costs after the America’s Got Talent judge dropped a restraining order against the carer, court documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal.
Legal documents show Mel B – full name Melanie Brown – is facing a court hearing in March if she does not pay Lorraine Gilles for legal fees incurred during an eight-month battle over the restraining order.
Gilles, 27, who became embroiled in Mel’s bitter divorce from ex husband Stephen Belafonte, was awarded the money – to cover costs and legal fees – by an arbitrator on December 18 last year.
The court papers reveal that the money relates to a private settlement between the two women in November 2017 that saw Mel suddenly drop a restraining order application against Gilles after an eight-month legal battle.
Mel had taken out restraining orders against Gilles and Belafonte after filing for divorce, alleging that the two had plotted to make embarrassing sex tapes of her.
Mel B is being sued by her ex-nanny for $232,000 in legal costs after the America’s Got Talent judge dropped a restraining order against the carer, court documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal
Legal documents show Mel B – full name Melanie Brown – is facing a court hearing in March if she does not pay Lorraine Gilles (pictured) for legal fees incurred during an eight-month battle over the restraining order
After months of nasty court sparring between the America’s Got Talent judge, 43, and Belafonte, also 43 – during which lurid tales of threesomes, drug and alcohol abuse and allegations of domestic violence made headlines – the restraining order case was scheduled to go to trial in November 2017.
A judge had decided to hear both Belafonte’s and Gilles’ case together.
But at the eleventh hour, Mel dropped her case against Belafonte and the restraining order was dropped as a result.
Soon after the star also agreed to drop a civil harassment restraining order against Gilles.
Her attorney wrote in court documents: ‘On the eve of trial, after six months of litigation by the parties and after the parties had already incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees as a result of Brown’s ‘shock and awe’ approach to litigation, Brown abruptly fired her former counsel and retained new counsel.
‘Brown’s new counsel immediately recognized that Brown’s petition against Gilles (the restraining order) was baseless and that Brown was on the verge of being humiliated, disgraced and potentially on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees should the restraining order trial commence and Gilles prevail.
‘Thus, in early November 2017, Brown’s counsel and Gilles’ counsel brokered a settlement agreement to resolve the pending restraining order petition. In the settlement agreement, Brown agreed to dismiss her petition for a restraining order against Gilles in its entirety.
Mel had taken out restraining orders against Gilles and Belafonte (pictured together) after filing for divorce, alleging that the two had plotted to make embarrassing sex tapes of her
After months of nasty court sparring between the America’s Got Talent judge, 43, and Belafonte, also 43 – during which lurid tales of threesomes, drug and alcohol abuse and allegations of domestic violence made headlines – the restraining order case was scheduled to go to trial in November 2017
‘Brown also agreed to pay a confidential sum of money to Gilles directly, in part to help Gilles satisfy her outstanding’ attorney’s fees.’
In January 2018, Gilles’ and Mel’s lawyers tried – and failed to agree on the sum Gilles should receive.
So retired LA judge Richard Stone was appointed as an arbitrator and, according to the new documents he awarded Gilles $232,355 on December 14 last year.
But the court papers add: ‘Brown has failed to make any payment on the arbitration award and has been largely unresponsive’ to efforts Gilles lawyers have made to contact her.’
Now, Gilles is going back to court March 5, seeking a judgment against Mel for the $232,000, ‘plus ten per cent pre-judgment interest.’
In a separate civil case, Gilles – who earned $6,667 a month as nanny to Mel’s daughters Madison, now seven and 11-year- old Angel – is suing Mel B for defamation and libel, after she branded her her ‘a homewrecker, prostitute, and extortionist.’
That case is set for trial in LA in June 2020.
It’s understood that Mel and Gilles, as part of the terms of the private settlement a year ago, also signed a confidentiality agreement promising not to talk about each other.
Mel doesn’t once mention Gilles in her recent book Brutally Honest and Gilles hasn’t spoken out since the case was dropped.
Last November, LA Superior Court Judge Mark Juhas ruled that troubled Mel could keep joint custody of Madison with Belafonte.
Now, Gilles is going back to court March 5, seeking a judgment against Mel for the $232,000, ‘plus ten per cent pre-judgment interest.
He also ordered the feuding couple to stay 200 yards away from each other and ruled that Mel must pay Belafonte $350,000 for legal fees and $5,000 month for child support for Madison.
The judgment allowing Mel to keep joint custody of Madison with her ex, was issued after Mel submitted records to the court showing that she had undergone – and passed – several weeks of drug and alcohol testing.
Judge Juhas mandated the tests after another nanny, Rusty Updegraff’s, damning declaration that she was unfit to look after Madison or her sister Angel – Mel’s daughter by Eddie Murphy – because her drinking was out of control, she used drugs and often brought home men to satisfy her appetite for sex.
Mel denied Updegraff’s claims, calling them ‘nonsense.’
Belafonte and Mel – who split up in March 2017 – were divorced in December 2017.
Despite their divorce being final for so long more than a year, attempts to settle disputes over children and money dragged on through 2018, with Mel estimating that she’s spent more than $1 million in legal fees and owes another $800,000 to attorneys and accountants.
Mel – who also has to pay Belafonte $15,000 a month in spousal support until 2020 – claims the long-drawn-out split with him has ruined her financially, she’s more than $3 million in the red and the IRS is garnishing her America’s Got Talent salary to pay off hundreds of thousand of dollars in back taxes she owes.
The couple were also ordered to set aside $1.1 million – $550,000 each – when they sell their $8 million former marital home, to pay back taxes they owe.